Homemade Mango Chutney

We had a week away at my brother's place just after Christmas. It was a real change of scene. A six hour drive through the country to a fairly remote mountain top where he lives at a major astronomical observatory. We explored the place and some of the local sights, played with my small niece and nephew and did a lot of amazing eating! He is a great cook with a real passion for asian flavours and sauces. He inspired us with how much he makes from scratch and preserves in jars to stockpile. There's always something marinading, curing or pickling and a project on the way (a smoking box at the moment).
I'm sure you'll hear more from this adventure!


So,  energised from this trip we went to the produce markets on the weekend and went a little wild! Lots of fruit & veg, lots of plans!!

I tried to choose things we genuinely use a lot of that would save us time or money by stockpiling. We eat a lot of Mango Chutney. With all our curries, pappadums, vegie burgers, as a snack with greek yoghurt and naan bread and importantly, Eva likes it in school sandwiches - but she is fussy so we compared several recipes and jars of ones she likes, tasted spices and came up with our own recipe. And it's great - and importantly Eva thinks so too!

Eva's Mango Chutney.

Ingredients
1.8kg diced ripe mango flesh (this was about 12-14 mangoes)
600ml white wine vinegar
600g white sugar
30g grated fresh ginger
1 Tbspn salt
1 tspn brown mustard seeds
1 tspn curry powder
1 tspn mixed spice
1/2 tspn ground clove

Method
Place all ingredients into a large heavy based pan.
Bring to boil then turn down to a simmer.
Simmer for about 1.5hr until darkened and thickened and tasty.
You can cool a tiny amount in a small dish in the freezer if you want to check for thickness as you do for jams.

Makes about 2 litres - 6 good sized jars.


Nicola


PS Mia has written about a Strawberry and Rhubarb Jam she made on the same day at her blog - The little blue bicycle - if you'd like to read more ...

Cauliflower and Spinach Curry in Creamy Tomato Sauce

There have been a few cauliflowers in our fruit and vegie bag in the last month or so. I do love cauliflower but past cauliflower cheese and roasted cauliflower it doesn't come naturally to me what to do with them. But now I have this great curry! I found this one first - and since then have made it and altered it a few times and now have something the whole family loves and it is pretty quick and easy - very achievable on a weeknight.

Ingredients

A Cauliflower Florets separated into florets

A bunch of English Spinach, stalks removed and rinsed

an Onion sliced

a Tomato diced

one tin (425g) of diced tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

2cm piece of ginger, grated

1 tspn mild curry powder

2 tspns  Garam Masala

1/2 tspn ground Turmeric

1 tspn Chilli powder

1 tspn ground Coriander 

2 Tbspn Oil

Salt – to taste

1/2 cup Water 

1/2 cup Cream

Method 

Heat a heavy based pan and add 2 tbsp oil. 

Saute the sliced onions until translucent.

Add garlic and ginger and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring

Add both types of tomato with salt to taste and cook until soft.

Add the spices (curry powder, garam masala, turmeric powder, chilli and coriander. Stir fry for 2 minutes.

Add the cauliflower florets along with 1/2 cup water and mix everything well. Cover the pan and cook for around 10-15 minutes on medium-high heat.

When the cauliflower florets are almost cooked, reduce heat to medium-low and add the cream and spinach. Cover and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, until the spinach has wilted. 

Serve this creamy cauliflower curry on brown rice with pappadums, a yoghurt raita and perhaps some mango chutney.

Vegetable Pakoras

It's Back! I have "Vegetarian" by Alice Hart in my possession again for a few weeks.


I picked up where I left off (see earlier post) and made her "Spring Vegetable Pakoras" last night. I intended it to be a nibble before dinner, but it made a lot and we scoffed them all down and didn't actually need a dinner after that.
I have made very minor modifications to her recipe.
* I used cauliflower, broccoli, snow peas and Spanish/red onion because that's what I had - she used broccolini (tenderstem broccoli), shelled peas and spring onions.
* I made the batter her way but have now quadrupled the cumin seeds for next time as they were the highlight flavour and I love them.



Ingredients


2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
200g chickpea flour (also known as gram or besan depending where you are)
1 litre vegetable oil for frying
1/2 a cauliflower, separated into florets
1 head broccoli, separated into florets
1 Spanish onion, cut into small wedges
100g Snowpeas, tops and strings removed


Method


Quickly Blanch or microwave the broccoli and cauliflower to par-cook it a little (about 30 seconds in boiling water or 1 minute on high) 
Mix the cumin seeds, coriander, turmeric, chili powder, salt, baking powder and flour together in a large bowl and gradually whisk in 200g cold water to make a batter.


Heat the oil in a deep saucepan or wok until it reaches 180C/350F. If you don't have a thermometer try a little batter in the pan and it should sizzle, but not burn, immediately if it is around the right temperature.


Add the chopped vegetables to the batter, stirring to coat well. 


Gently drop pieces of vegetable (or tablespoonfuls of any little bits) into the hot oil a few at a time, being careful not to splash yourself or overcrowd the pan. 


Deep fry for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Lift out with a spider or slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.


Serve immediately.


Alice suggested an optional fresh herb chutney to serve with them.  (mint, coriander/cilantro, red onion, green chili, lime juice and a little water) We simply squeezed lime on them and were very happy!!

 Enjoy!
 Nicola

Around the World in 18 Fridays- Week 6- India

Namaste!


This week we'll be stopping in India for an (if I do say so myself) incredible potato curry!

It's based on a recipe I found on allrecipes.com and it's vegan (unless served with a large amount of raita. In that case it's most definitely NOT vegan)!


In my defence, it was a little hotter than expected, so the yogurt was necessary! The original recipe has 4 teaspoons curry powder, but I cut that to 3. It was delicious, and not unbearably hot, but if you're not so fond on chilli I'd recommend cutting it even more or using a really mild curry powder.


You've been warned!


I also added cauliflower, which was great, but if you're not so keen I'm sure it'd be just as nice without.


Or, if you happen to have excess of some other vegetable, why not add that?


We ALWAYS have excess potatoes, which is why this recipe is so good!


But if you don't belong to a fruit co-op who give you insane amounts of potatoes each week, I still say try it. Potatoes aren't exactly hard to come-by!


Indian Potato Curry
Based on: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/spicy-vegan-potato-curry/

1. Ingredients
   1. 4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
   2. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
   3. 1 yellow onion, diced
   4. 3 cloves garlic, minced
   5. 2 teaspoons ground cumin
   6. 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
   7. 3 teaspoons curry powder
   8. 4 teaspoons garam masala
   9. 1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
   10. 2 teaspoons salt
   11. 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
   12. 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained
   13. 1 cup frozen peas
   14. 1/4 of a large cauliflower (1/2 a small one)
   15. 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
   Directions
1. Place potatoes into a large pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for a minute or two.
2. Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. 
3. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, curry powder, garam masala, ginger, and salt; cook for 2 minutes more. 
4. Add the tomatoes, garbanzo beans, peas, cauliflower and potatoes. Pour in the coconut milk, and bring to a simmer. Simmer 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
5. Serve with rice, pappadams, raita (unless you're vegan!) and mango chutney.

Mia :)

Saag Paneer - Indian Spinach and Fried Cheese Curry

One of the cheeses I have been looking forward to making is Paneer. I finally did it on the weekend. It was easy, successful and made a great Saag Paneer (Spinach with Fried cheese) Curry for our dinner.

To make the Paneer I needed:-

• to bring milk to the boil (2.4 litres),
• to add lemon juice (90ml) through it just as it boiled, stir it briefly until I could see clear whey separating and take it off the heat.
• Then I strained it through cheesecloth in a colander.
• After it drained most of the liquid I pulled the ends of the cloth together to form a ball and squeezed it gently.
• I then put it on the drainer with a large container of water on it as a weight and left it for 4 hours.

When I unwrapped it this was the final product - Easy!

Next I made the Curry using the following Recipe:-


Saag Paneer

• 400g Paneer, sliced into 1cm cubes
• 
• 3Tb Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 bunch Silverbeet, chopped and rinsed (don't dry)
• 
  
• 
• 2 Tbspn Butter 
• 1 tspn Cumin Seed
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
• 2 tspn ground coriander
• 1tspn chilli powder
• 185ml can of Evaporated Milk (the original recipe was for 120ml cream but I didn't have it and Evaporated Milk is lower in fat)
• salt to taste

Heat 2 Tb of the oil in a heavy based pan and fry paneer until all sides are golden, remove from pan and set aside.
Add butter to pan and saute damp silverbeet for a few minutes until wilted.
Puree the spinach in blender or food processor.

Add the remaining Tb of oil to a hot pan and add cumin seeds. Once they begin to crackle add the garlic, turn down the heat and gently cook until soft.
Add corriander, chilli powder and spiach puree to pan.
Cook for 3 minutes stirring constantly.
Add paneer and Evaporated Milk or Cream and simmer to heat
Add salt to taste.

Serve immediately with basmati rice and perhaps some yoghurt or raita, mango chutney and papadums. 

This quantity served 4 with a little leftover for lunch and was delicious!

The Recipes for the Curry and the Cheese were based  on those in "Making Artisan Cheeses" by Tim Smith , a birthday gift late last year.

Nicola